The Costa Rica government Wednesday decreed a holiday for its employees on Friday June 9, the day of the first World Cup game between Costa Rica's national team and the hosts Germany.

"The vacation is only for that day. We decided to give people the morning so that they can watch not just the match, but also the World Cup's opening ceremony," presidency minister, Rodrigo Arias, told reporters.

On other days, Costa Rica will play games much earlier in the day, so that people can watch the game and then go to work once the games are over, he said.

Costa Rica's national squad travelled to Germany on Tuesday night, to take part in the World Cup, for only the third time in its history. The first time was in Italy in 1990 and the second in 2002's South Korea and Japan World Cup.

Costa Rica's playing schedule is as follows: June 9 versus Germany at 10.00 a.m. local time (1600 GMT), June 15 versus Ecuador, at 7.00 a.m. local time (1300 GMT), June 20 versus Poland at 8.00 a.m. (1400 GMT).

The team will also play four friendlies before the main competition, to focus its strategy. On Saturday against a German first division team in Lahr, on Wednesday next week against a Catalan team in Barcelona, on May 28 against Ukraine in Kiev and on May 30 against the Czech Republic in Jablonec.

Source: Xinhua